Hard surface covering



March 3, 1942. B. F. ADAMS ErAL 2,274,642

HARD SURFACE COVERING Filed June 2s, 1957 mmv/M Quema;

' it be removable Patented Mar. 3, 1942 nAnnsUnFAcE covEmNG Benjamin F. Adams, Lancaster, and Howard A.

Johnson, Manheim Township, Lancaster County., Pa., assignors to Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Animationen 2s, 1937, serial No.149,s3o f s claims. (ci. 154-49) Our invention relates to a hard surface covering adapted to be adhesively secured to a base. More particularly,our invention relates to a hard surface oor covering including a stratum of partible brous material, and having a thin, paper-like sheet of rupturable material secured to one side of the partible stratum which forms a stratum effective for .securing the parti*- ble fibrous stratum to the base, the' covering being characterized by the effective securing properties of the rupturable sheet being inferior to the partible qualities of the flbrous stratum, whereby the covering may be adhesively secured to a base/and removed therefrom without rupturing the partible brous stratum.

In the installation of hard surface floor covering it has been customary to interpose a lining of heavy deadening felt between the floor and the covering, particularly when the installation is made over wooden floors. Such practice relieves the covering from the direct application of stresses causedby shrinkage and expansion of the floor boards, and smooths out-surface irregularities. According'to the usual method of installation, a suitable adhesive is applied to the floor, a solid sheet of deadening felt is laid thereon and the covering is bonded to the upper .surface of the deadening felt by'means of a second layer of adhesive. The deadening felt, being structurally weak and of generally laminar formation, permits the door boards to expandand contract without transmitting rupturing facilitate the cleaning of the supporting base after suchremovalto receive whatever replacement covering is intended. ln the absence of ourinvention, large areas of the supporting `base have heretofore beenJcoveredby the portions of such waterproof strata disrupted from the body of the removed floor covering, and the removal of these portions adhering to the supporting base is very difficult sincethey respond to no cheap, readily available solvent and due to their waterproof characteristics the fibers are tenaciously secured to one another` and present a surface incapable of being rendered smooth by ordinary brushing. Mechanical methods of removing such undesirable portions left secured to the base are very undesirable and expensive.

.Our invention has for its chief object to provide a hard surface covering which may be securely bonded to a base andwhich may be easily and eiliciently removed therefrom when worn; and which removal will leave the base in satisfactory condition to "eceive a replacement covering. An object of o ur invention is to provide a rupturable stratum in hard surface coverings which may be easilyruptured by tensile forces, when the covering is adhesively secured to a base, in order that the covering may be removed from the base.

Our invention relates to a hard surface covering ready to lay in bonded relation toa base,

stresses to the hard surface floor covering, by t .the yielding of the felted bers or the slippage between the laminations thereof. This type of installation permits ready removal ofthe oor covering by rupturing the felt.

Hard surface oor covering embodying a stratum' of partible material, such for example as felt or felted material to winch a decoration has been applied supericially or incorporated by penetration, presents a problem different from that presented by linoleum, which embodies a strong burlap backing, in that, whereas the burlap is stronger'thanfadhesives customarily 'employed for securing the linoleum to a supporting base, thefibrous or felted stratum embodied in the other types of hard surface floor covering does not possess` such strength. It is not regarded as advantageous to employ deadening felt in the' laying of the latter material, since the partible brous stratum is usually adequate to serve the purposes for which the deadening felt is employed. Accordingly, it is dlfllcult, if

not impossible, to remove such :oor covering without destroying its value for reuse. If the partible stratum embodied in such flor'covering is of a waterproof-type, it is important that the value of thegfiloor covering forl reuse, but to 'a whole, not only to preserve whole of. the covering.

comprising a stratum of partible fibrous material and a paper-like sheet oL-rupturable material secured torone side of said partible stratum, said l sheet being less resistant to tensile forces than said stratum whereby the covering may be removed from a base without rupturing thepartible stratum. v

A section of our hard surface covering is il- Y Y 'a strain resisting brous sheet, whether or notv such sheet. be saturated or waterproofed, or may comprise any of the available types of hard surface covering in which a waterproofed or saturated strain resisting sheet is -coated with a decorative wear coating. Our invention may also be used in connection with hard surface coverings in which a sheeted fibrous web forms the Specific examples of such hard surface coverings are l'inoleum or other drying'oil compositions on saturated felt, printed felt base, industrial flooring comprising colored, asphaltic coating on saturated feltsheets,.1loor covering made in accordance with Jackson Patents Nos. 1,729,832; 1,729,833 and Finley Patent No. 1,802,009, and the like.

l Referring to the drawing, there is shown a hard surface covering comprising a stratum of partible fibrous material 2, ,having a layer of Wear resistant drying oil composition 3 integral with one side of the partible fibrous stratum. To the other side of the fibrous stratum 2, we apply a backing coating 4 which may advantageously be designed as a seal coating. for the saturant within the foundation. A thin, paper-like sheet of rupturable fibrous material 5, which may be crepe paper or similar material, is thensecured to the fibrous stratum 2. The rupturable sheet 5 may be applied to the fibrous stratum 2 in any desired manner, for example, it may be attached thereto by passing it with the latter between rolls while the seal coating is wet and tacky, or any suitable adhesive may be applied to secure the sheet 5 to the fibrous stratum 2. Our invention contemplates that the securing properties of the rupturable sheet 5 are inferior to the partible qualities of the fibrous stratum 2, that is, the partible fibrous stratum possesses greater resistance to tensile forces than such sheet.

Preferably', a second coating 6 is applied over and concealing the thin paper-like sheet 5. This coating is' applied .primarily for decorative purposes and may comprise any of the customary decorative backing paints which are ordinarily applied to hard surface coverings. These coatings 4 and 6 may be applied in any desired manner, as, for example, by coating rolls, doctor blades, or the like.

We have determined certain denite limits of cohesion, within which the required feature of ready removability is obtained. We have found that limits of cohesion of 6 to 30 pounds resistance are satisfactory. With tensile resistance greater than pounds the thin, paper-like sheet of fibrous material resists rupturing to a degree i to prevent ready removability; with tensile resistance less than 6 pounds, its securing properv able in the finishedmaterial since a decorative ties are dangerously Weak and the covering may l be loosened from a base by severe traic and excessive wear. The pull test hereafter referred hesive is dry and firmly pressed thereagainst, as by rolling, placing heavy sand bags thereover, or the like. When the adhesive has dried, the covering is securely attached to the base.

' When it is desired to remove the covering, the thin, paper-like sheet may be readily ruptured by exerting tensile forces on the structure. When the covering is removed, the base may be readily put in condition to receive a new covering by washing away anyportions of the sheet and adhesive, remaining thereon and following the process described above. `We have found, in many cases, that it is not necessary to wash 'off such portions remaining on the base since a good bond may be secured by merely placing another adhesive coating thereon and securing a covering thereto. Preferably, however, such portions are removed, since, in some cases, the surface thereof is not suiciently smooth to permit the application of a replacement covering thereover.

The portions adhering to the base heretofore have been diflicultly removable involving a great deal of labor and expense.4 By our invention, the covering is removed as a unit sothat no excessive expenditures are necessary to prepare the base to receive another covering. A good bond between a base and the covering is consistently obtainable. An attractive appearance is obtaincoating may be placed over the rupturable sheet or the sheet may be decorated in any desired manner.

While we have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of o ur invention, it will be understood that it is not limited to such form, since it Vmay be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A hard surface covering comprising a body sheet of partible fibrous material saturated with a Amoisture resistant substance and having a wearing surface integral with the upper surface thereof, and a sheet of unsaturated fibrous material possessing low resistance to rupture along laminar lines bonded to the other surface thereof by an interposed stratum of bondingmaterial, the

to as the Scott test used to establish these limits may be carried on in the following manner:

Toone side of a strip of Wood 6i long by 2" wide a thin layer of linoleum cement 0r paste is applied, using a notched doctor blade to distribute the paste or cement evenly over the enf tire surface. To the4 paste or cement is immediately applied a strip of the covering to be tested 8" by 2 wide, one end of which is placed ush Q with one end of the strip of wood; the other end extending free beyond the wood strip. After roll- 'ing to obtain a satisfactory bond between the wood and the covering, the sample is maintained at normal room temperature for approximately four days to dry the paste or cement. The resistance of the rupturable sheet to tensile forces is determined by placing the sample in a Scott tensile strength machine at right angles to the direction of the forces to vbe exerted. The strength of the forces recorded as the covering is removed from the Wood strip measures the resistance of the sheet to tensile force's.

A building structure embodying our invention is formed in the following manner: First, the base is prepared to receive the covering; that is, it is cleaned and leveled so that it presents a clean, dry, substantially smooth surface. adhesive is spread evenly over the base; the hard surface covering is 'laid thereon before the ad- A layer of relative strength of the two sheets being such that, when the covering material is cemented vto a nonpartible base with the unsaturated sheet disposed between the base and the body sheet,

the unsaturated sheet, possessing lower resistance to rupture than the body sheet, may be readily ruptured to effect removal of the covering material from th base without parting. of the body sheet. v

2. A hard surface covering in accordance with claim 1 in which the sheet of unsaturated ma.- terial is crepe paper.

3. A hard surface covering in accordance with claim 1 in which the wearing surface comprises a drying oil composition.

4. `A hard surface covering in accordance with claim 1 in which the wearing of linoleum composition.

5. A hard surface iioor covering in accordance with claim 1 in which the sheet of unsaturated material is resistant to tensile forces in the range of six to thirty pounds as determined by the Scott test.

6. A. hard surface oor covering in accordance with claim 1 in which the sheet of unsaturated material has applied thereto a decorative coating surface is a layer 

